1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of product packaging design and construction. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of shipping container and display case design and construction for metal fasteners.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Packaging and shipping containers made of cardboard or other corrugated materials are known in conventional art. In some instances such containers are designed to be convertible into display units for retail sales. The following (17) prior art references are found to be pertinent to the field of the present invention:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 452,994 issued to Dodd on May 26, 1891 for "Process of Preserving Eggs" (hereafter the "Dodd Patent"); PA1 2. U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,693 issued to Freistat on May 4, 1965 for "Carrying Case Insert Formed with Locked-in Polyurethane Foam" (hereafter the "Freistat Patent"); PA1 3. U.S. Pat. No. 3,335,894 issued to Laird on Aug. 15, 1967 for "Holder for Eggs" (hereafter the "Laird Patent"); PA1 4. U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,245 issued to Kawawada on Sep. 16, 1969 for "Shock Absorbing Package and Display Member" (hereafter the "Kawawada Patent"); PA1 5. U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,631 issued to Sutherland et al. on Mar. 9, 1976 for "Multi-Unit Packaging Method and Package" (hereafter the "Sutherland Patent"); PA1 6. U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,297 issued to Paulin on Sep. 5, 1978 for "Cartridge for Hardware Packages" (hereafter the "Paulin Patent"); PA1 7. U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,912 issued to Harrold on May 1, 1979 for "Storage Container" (hereafter the "Harrold Patent"); PA1 8. U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,781 issued to Hummel on Feb. 28, 1984 for "Compact Dual Bell Section Trombone Case" (hereafter the "Hummel Patent"); PA1 9. U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,094 issued to Allsop et al. on Aug. 18, 1987 for "Container Display Method and Apparatus" (hereafter the "Allsop Patent"); PA1 10. U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,612 issued to Schuster on Jun. 14, 1988 for "Combination Shipping and Display Carton" (hereafter the "Schuster Patent"); PA1 11. U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,534 issued to Kaufman et al. on Nov. 24, 1992 for "Packaging Cases Incorporating Elevating Mechanism for Displaying Contents" (hereafter the "Kaufman Patent"); PA1 12. U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,324 issued to Miller on Dec. 1, 1992 for "Shipping Carton and Display Unit for Tubes" (hereafter the "Miller Patent"); PA1 13. U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,198 issued to McQueeny on Aug. 15, 1995 for "Reclosable Product Packaging" (hereafter the "McQueeny Patent"); PA1 14. U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,750 issued to Rychel on May 7, 1996 for "Roller Blade Wheel Caddy" (hereafter the "Rychel Patent"); PA1 15. U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,982 issued to Kuhn et al. on Sep. 17, 1996 for "Convertible Shipping Container-Display Apparatus" (hereafter the "Kuhn Patent"); PA1 16. U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,813 issued to Nyseth on Jul. 1, 1997 for "Wafer Shipper and Package" (hereafter the "Nyseth Patent"); and PA1 17. U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,296 issued to Limmer on Mar. 24, 1998 for "Ready to Stock Multiple Product Package" (hereafter the "Limmer Patent").
The Dodd Patent discloses a process for packing and preserving eggs. The process includes the steps of embedding the eggs in soft clay, and then drying the bricks of clay and protecting them from moisture.
The Freistat Patent discloses a method of filling a carrying case with a foam plastic filler and locking the filler in place in the case. It also discloses a carrying case insert formed with a locked-in polyurethane foam for protecting various items during transportation.
The Laird Patent discloses a portable lightweight egg holder. The holder has a plurality of interconnected sockets for retaining eggs.
The Kawawada Patent discloses a shock absorbing member made of foamed polystyrene. The member can also serve as a display support for displaying an article in a standing position subsequent to opening the shock absorbing package.
The Sutherland Patent discloses a method of packaging multi-unit packaged products, such as bottled or canned liquid products, in a container. The container can be readily converted into a display case or tray by removing portions of the container without disturbing the contents.
The Paulin Patent discloses a cartridge for use in loading onto display racks packages of hardware and like articles. The cartridge includes a disposable carton containing a plurality of such packages. One of the walls of the carton has a tear-strip which is removable for disposing the packages for individual pricing.
The Harrold Patent discloses a storage container for associated or related articles such as nuts and bolts. The container has a plurality of slots for receiving bolts of a given diameter and thread configurations but of different lengths.
The Hummel Patent discloses a compact tenor trombone case for carrying various trombone components, including a single B-flat trombone, a trombone with F attachment, and a slide section that mates with either the B-flat trombone or the trombone with F attachment.
The Allsop Patent discloses a container having a base containing portion and a movable cover portion. The base portion of the container has two upstanding sidewalls and is suspended from a pegboard or slot board by using two mounting adapters to engage the sidewalls.
The Schuster Patent discloses a combination shipping and display carton. The top panel of the carton is perforated near one end so that the top panel can be separated at the perforation. The top panel can be then folded to form a double thick display panel.
The Kaufman Patent discloses a packaging case incorporating an elevating mechanism for displaying the contents of the case. The packaging case may be constructed with various configurations for displaying different shaped contents such as elongated pencils or flat computer disks.
The Miller Patent discloses a shipping carton and display unit for tubes. The carton has a tear-strip which separates the upper and lower portions in all but one side to form a display case.
The McQueeny Patent discloses a reclosable product package which includes a plurality of walls. When fully assembled, the package has a package access wall and a package container wall which are disposed at an angle.
The Rychel Patent discloses a roller blade wheel caddy. The caddy has a plurality of stations for individually storing a plurality of disassembled roller blade wheel assemblies.
The Kuhn Patent discloses a shipping container which may be converted to a display apparatus for items shipped and contained within the shipping container. The convertible shipping container-display apparatus includes a cover configured for facilitating opening, to permit access to and viewing of the goods shipped and contained therein.
The Nyseth Patent discloses a plastic container for storing and shipping semiconductor wafers. The container includes a wafer carrier of substantially rigid and transparent material for supporting the wafers and maintaining the wafers in spaced apart relation.
The Limmer Patent discloses a ready to stock multiple product package which has upper and lower box portions. A plurality of identical product packages are arranged so that the spike receiving holes on the packages are in line for passage of a spike. The lower box portion can be slidably inserted into the upper box portion to close the open bottom of the upper box portion.
While various packaging and shipping containers have been disclosed by the cited references, none of them are suitable for the purpose of storing, shipping and displaying pre-assembled packages of small metal fasteners such as nails, screws, nuts and bolts and other like small items. These small metal fasteners are typically contained in clear or transparent plastic packages each containing a pre-determined quantity of such small metal fasteners. In conventional merchandising practice, such pre-assembled packages of small items are often shipped in corrugated paperboard boxes that have closure flaps which are glued or stapled together. When such boxes are received by a store, the box is usually opened in a destructive manner and therefore destroyed, and the pre-assembled packages of small items are withdrawn from the boxes and placed loosely on the display shelves of the store.
It is desirable to provide a new shipping container that can be easily convertible into a display case particularly designed and constructed for the purpose of shipping, containing and convertibly displaying a plurality of pre-assembled packages of small metal fasteners.